The BCTV is very sad to announce the death of one of its President’s Council – Dame Esther Rantzen (86) was one of those very special people who brought warmth, kindness and humanity into everything she did.

From May 1973 and for the following 21 years, she was welcomed by millions of viewers into their homes through That’s Life!, combining humour and entertainment with a genuine determination to expose injustice and help people. She had a wonderful ability to make people laugh, but also to make them stop, listen and care. She even managed to be arrested once during filming for ‘obstructing a highway’.

Yet perhaps her greatest legacy lies in the lives she touched through her charity work away from television. In 1986, Dame Esther founded Childline, giving children and young people a safe place to be heard when they were frightened, vulnerable or simply needed someone to talk to. She later founded The Silver Line, helping older people who were facing loneliness and isolation.

What makes her story moving is that she never stopped caring about people. Even in later life, she continued to speak with courage and compassion about difficult issues, including assisted dying, drawing on her own experiences to give a voice to others.

Dame Esther leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of kindness, courage and service. She entertained generations, stood up for people who needed a voice, and created organisations that have made a real difference to countless lives.

Away from the cameras and charity work, Dame Esther was married to documentary programme maker Desmond Wilcox and was mother to three children, to whom we extend our condolences.

She will be fondly remembered not just for the programmes she made, but for the compassion she showed and the good she inspired.